Foreman wins almost $60,000 in RWC row

Diane Foreman's Emerald Inn on Takapuna Beach is in a legal battle with Groupe Couleur over a booking. Photo / Richard Robinson

High profile businesswoman Diane Foreman has won almost $60,000 in a Rugby World Cup accommodation dispute with a French travel agency.

The booking, at Foreman's Emerald Inn on Takapuna, was for French media during the tournament.

It was made by Lyon-based travel agency Groupe Couleur, who launched civil proceedings against Emerald Inn in the Auckland High Court, claiming a breach of contract.

Foreman filed a counter-claim, arguing Groupe Couleur had breached the terms of its contract and she had suffered losses as a result.

"There were some people who made a booking from France for the Rugby World Cup. They paid a deposit, they didn't honour the booking. We're trying to maintain the deposit and they're trying to get it back," Foreman said during the case last week.

In his decision made on Tuesday, Justice Murray Gilbert found in Emerald Inn's favour and awarded $58,658 to it for losses suffered.

According to its website, Emerald Inn is Takapuna's "best kept secret" and offers studios, cottages and pool-side suites.

Foreman is well known in business circles and has been in the corporate world for more than two decades.

In December, she was appointed a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to business.

In 1996, Foreman negotiated the $130 million sale of Trigon to US buyers and went on to establish the Emerald Group investment company, which owns and exports the New Zealand Natural icecream brand across the world.

One division of the group, Emerald Foods, won the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise International Business Award in 2010 for companies with a turnover of between $10 million and $50 million.

Foreman is a former deputy of the Business Roundtable, and was named New Zealand Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2009.

According to Groupe Couleur's website, it is the "leading French rugby agency in team travel" and since 1996 has transported more than 15,000 people to "many exciting venues". It has a staff of 15 in Lyon, London and Toulouse.